June 7, 2020

Meticulous Observation of Time-Sensitive Networking

Both computer and automation networks have got a dependable wired solution in the figure of Ethernet. However, it was not designed particularly to satisfy the demand for automation networks. Ethernet cannot guarantee real-time communication and that’s a big drawback. TSN Technology was the solution which cured these problems and gave a solid base to real-time communication.

What TSN is?

There are some sub-standards of Ethernet which are described in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.1. TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking) is nothing but a set of those sub-standards. Mainly it focuses on creating overlapping between Information Technology and Industrial Operational Technology. TSN does this by adapting and also by expanding the wings of Ethernet.

Standardizing the features on the 2nd level of OSI will enable different protocols to share the same infrastructure and TSN does exactly what is needed. The real challenge is to configure the critical and non-critical data traffic. It will pair both the performance and real-time characteristics.

The Usefulness of the TSN

In most of the cases, Ethernet divides Information Technology from the Industrial Operational Technology. It happens because the automated sectors like manufacturing are dependent on the hierarchical pyramid of automation.

In the beginning, there was little connection between the IT and the OT but now the picture has changed totally. Consistent communication is the key factor to fulfill every demand for the acquisition of Operational data. Smart production is a thing to observe under the IoT or Internet of Things in Industry 4.0. Nowadays factories are consistently communicating with other branches and it takes little time to do that. These changes in the automation world are the sweet fruit of TSN Technology. It guarantees the latency time of the critical data of real-time throughout several networks. A converged network can consist of both critical and noncritical data traffic. Now you can think of applying real-time data even outside the Industrial Operational Technology. At this point, the vendor dependency is merely a dream. All these happen as a benefit of TSN over the conventional Ethernet.

When both the devices and the components in infrastructure are TSN friendly it reaches the highest level of potential. Maximum manufacturing factories have determined themselves to make only TSN friendly products. More than 350 scientists from all over the world are constantly observing the possibilities with the TSN and focused on innovating new things inside the same.